39 died due to AIDS in Kolar dist last year

Kolar, Nov 30: Altogether 39 people died of AIDS in this district last year, District Nodal Officer for HIV Prevention Programme Dr K S Prakash said.

Talking to newspersons here yesterday, Dr Prakash said the prevalence of the disease in the district had decreased as compared to other districts in the state As against the prevalence rate of 1.5 per cent last year, it had come down to one per cent this year.

Over 13,404 people were counselled during the last 10 months in the district of which 10,768 people were tested for the disease and blood samples of 576 people had proved positive for HIV, he added.

Stating that India stood in third position among the HIV affected countries, behind South Africa and Nigeria, he said there were 31 lakh people in the country affected by the disease, while there were five lakh patients in the state.

Dr Prakash said on ''AIDS Day'' tomorrow HIV affected patients would be counselled.

Many programmes, aimed at creating awareness about AIDS will be organised on the occasion, he added.